The Evening Wrap: Champai Soren resigns; Hemant stakes claim to form government

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader and former Chief Minister Hemant Soren has met Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan in Ranchi on July 3 and staked his claim to form a government in the State. “We’ve done all procedures (to form government),” Soren told media persons outside Raj Bhawan. Soren was elected as leader of the ruling Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc parties in the Assembly and is set to return as the 13th Chief Minister of the State. In an alleged land scam case, Soren was sent to jail in January, after which he resigned from the post. Chief Minister Champai Soren, alliance partner Congress in-charge of the State Ghulam Ahmad Mir, State Congress president Rajesh Thakur and all leaders and legislators of INDIA bloc allies were present in the marathon meeting in Ranchi on Wednesday. The ruling alliance MLAs are said to have reached a consensus over the change of guard and making Soren Chief Minister of the State again. Champai Soren has also tendered his resignation to Radhakrishnan. “Our alliance decided to elect Hemant Soren as leader and I’ve decided to resign on my own“, said Champai Soren after tendering his resignation. “A decision was taken at the meeting that Hemant Soren will be the Chief Minister of the State again,” said Congress MLA from Jamtara Irfan Ansari to local media persons in Ranchi and sped away citing toothache as the reason. Earlier on January 31, Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged land scam. “Yes, we want Mr. Soren to take oath as CM of the State sooner than later but, it all depends on the Governor for the invitation”, a JMM MLA told The Hindu over the phone, preferring anonymity. Soren would take oath as Chief Minister of Jharkhand for the third time after July 2013 and December 2019. It was, however, for the first time since Soren’s release from Jail on June 28, that he had called an all-party meeting of MLAs of alliance partners. Current Chief Minister Champai Soren, who is set to be “upset” over the move, is likely to be given a new responsibility as the chairman of the INDIA bloc coordination committee in the State or, executive president of the JMM. In the total 81-member Jharkhand State Assembly, the JMM-led INDIA bloc strength, after the recently held Lok Sabha poll, has become 45 from 47 (JMM-27, Congress-17 and RJD-1). The BJP’s strength in the State Assembly is 24 as two of its legislators Dhulu Mahto (Baghmara in Dhanbad) and Manish Jaiswal (Hazaribagh) were elected as party MPs. After Soren was sent to jail, his wife Kalpana Soren plunged into politics and became party MLA from Gandey constituency defeating BJP candidate Dilip Kumar Verma in a by-poll by over 26, 000 votes. Gandey Assembly seat in Giridih district of the State had fallen vacant following resignation of JMM MLA Sarfaraj Ahmad. Ahead of the meeting of INDIA bloc allies MLAs on Wednesday, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and Jharkhand in-charge of the party Ghulam Ahmad Mir and State Congress President Rajesh Thakur met Soren for some time. “The alliance partner legislators and leaders elected Hemant Soren for the third term of CM for a unified command ahead of the upcoming State elections in October this year,” a JMM leader said. Hathras stampede: Uttar Pradesh CM Adityanath announces judicial probe, doesn’t rule out conspiracy Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on July 3 announced a judicial probe into the Hathras stampede as he met those injured in the incident at the venue of the religious congregation in Hathras. Adityanath did not rule out the possibility of a conspiracy in the stampede. He also said the “sevadars” (volunteers working for the ‘satsang’ organisers) should have taken the victims to the hospital. People were dying and the ‘sevadars’ fled, he claimed. Asserting the government will ensure that such incidents do not recur, the Chief Minister said a standard operating procedure might be put in place for religious congregations. “A judicial probe by a retired high court judge will be conducted into the incident. A notification about this will be issued today,” he said. “If this is not an accident, then whose conspiracy is this? All of these will be probed. Retired officials of the police and civic administration will be part of the judicial inquiry and action will be taken against those found responsible.” Adityanath said the government had formed a Special Investigation Team led by the additional director general (ADG) of police, Agra, which has given its preliminary report. She (ADG, Agra, Anupam Kulshreshtha) has been asked to get to the bottom of this incident, he said. The Chief Minister said among the 121 killed in the stampede on July 2, six were from other states — four from Haryana and one each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Asked why religious preacher Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba has not been named in the FIR as an accused, Adityanath said, “Prima facie, the case has been filed against those who had applied for permission for the event. Whoever is responsible for this will come under its purview.” The Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday registered an FIR against the organisers of the congregation, accusing them of flouting conditions with 2.5 lakh people gathering for the event in which only 80,000 were permitted. It also alleged the organisers did not cooperate in traffic management and hid evidence after the stampede that occurred as people gathered there stopped to collect soil from where the religious preacher’s vehicle passed. After meeting the injured, Adityanath reached the stampede spot in Sikandrarau where the Divisional Commissioner of Aligarh briefed him about the accident. At a press conference, the Chief Minister said, “When the gentleman’s (Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba) preaching was over, he came down from the stage and his convoy moved forward, a group of women moved towards him to touch him. A crowd followed them and started climbing on top of each other.” Adityanath said, “The ‘sevadars’ kept pushing people leading to the accident. It is sad that the ‘sevadars’, who do not allow the administration to enter such events, tried to hush up the matter. But when the administration started taking the injured to hospital, most of the ‘sevadars’ fled.” NTA working on CUET-UG results, date to be announced soon: UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on July 3 said the date for declaration of results for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG will be announced soon. The results for the crucial test, which is a gateway for admission to undergraduate courses, were scheduled to be announced by June 30. However, there has been no update yet from the National Testing Agency (NTA). The delay in announcement of CUET results is also likely to impact the academic calendar in the universities. “NTA is working on CUET results and will announce a date soon,” the UGC chairman said. The delay in results come amid a raging row over alleged irregularities in the competitive exams, including NEET and NET. The exam conducted in a hybrid mode for the first time was cancelled across Delhi, a night before the exam citing logistical reasons. The exam was conducted later in the national capital. The NTA had earlier announced that the third edition of the CUET-UG will be completed in seven days and there will be no normalisation of scores as all exams will be conducted in a single shift. For 15 subjects, the tests were in pen-paper mode and for the other 48 subjects, the exam was held in computer-based mode. Over 13.4 lakh candidates had this year registered for the common entrance test for admission to undergraduate courses in 261 central, state, deemed and private universities. In the first edition of the exam in 2022, the test was plagued by technical glitches. Also, as a result of tests for a subject being conducted over multiple shifts, the scores had to be normalised during the announcement of results. In the line of fire over alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET and the PhD entrance NET, the Centre removed NTA Director General Subodh Singh last week and notified a high-level panel headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief R. Radhakrishnan to ensure a transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the NTA. While the NEET is under the scanner over several irregularities, including alleged paper leak, the UGC-NET was cancelled as the Education Ministry received inputs that the integrity of the exam was com promised. Both matters are being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).Two other exams — CSIR-UGC NET and NEET-PG — were cancelled as a preemptive step. The Congress on July 3 slammed the NTA over the delay in the results and claimed that the exam is one reason why more and more youngsters are looking to go abroad for undergraduate education. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the “totally discredited” NTA had earlier announced that the results for the CUET would be declared on June 30. Now, it appears that it might be declared on July 10, he said. “It is worth recalling that NTA’s chairman has not been shifted out as part of the clean-up following the NEET and NET fiascos,” Ramesh said in a post on X. “It is also worth recalling that the NTA, which is under the Ministry of Education, has no professional expertise of its own and depends entirely on private vendors — some with dubious credentials — for the actual testing,” he alleged. Ramesh claimed that the CUET is one reason why more and more youngsters are looking to go abroad for undergraduate education. Joe Biden says he ‘nearly fell asleep’ during U.S. presidential debate after world travel U.S. President Joe Biden acknowledged his performance during the June 27 presidential debate wasn’t his best, but blamed it on jet lag after two overseas trips earlier in June. Biden has faced mounting questions about his 2024 reelection bid after last week’s shaky debate performance, with one House of Representatives fellow Democrat on Tuesday publicly calling on him to withdraw from the race. Speaking at a campaign event in McLean, Virginia, on Tuesday evening, Biden admitted the debate against former President Donald Trump, his Republican rival, did not go well. “I didn’t have my best night, but the fact is that you know, I wasn’t very smart,” Biden said, speaking at the campaign fundraiser without the aid of a teleprompter. “I decided to travel around the world a couple times, going through around 100 time zones... before... the debate.” “Didn’t listen to my staff and came back and nearly fell asleep on stage,” he said. “That’s no excuse but it is an explanation.” Biden traveled to France and Italy during two separate trips in the space of two weeks last month, flying overnight from the Group of Seven summit in Bari, Italy, to appear at a fundraiser with former President Barack Obama in Los Angeles on June 15 before returning to Washington the following day. He then spent six days at Camp David preparing for the June 27 debate. White House officials have blamed Biden’s halting performance during the debate on a cold. Biden did not mention being sick during Tuesday’s fundraiser. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Tuesday showed that one in three Democrats think Biden should end his reelection bid following the debate, but no prominent elected Democrat does any better than Biden in a hypothetical matchup against Trump. The two-day poll found that both Trump, 78, and Mr. Biden, 81, maintain the support of 40% of registered voters, suggesting that Biden has not lost ground since the debate. Election Day is November 5. In Brief: Jailed radical preacher Amritpal Singh likely to take oath as MP on July 5 Jailed radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh, who recently won the Khadoor Sahib parliamentary seat in Punjab, is likely to take oath as Lok Sabha member on July 5. The chief of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit, who is currently lodged in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail along with nine associates under the National Security Act, has been granted a four-day parole to enable him to take oath, officials in Amritsar said. Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, an Independent MP from Faridkot, said Amritpal Singh is likely to take oath as MP on July 5. PM Modi breaks silence on Manipur, says govt making continuous efforts to normalise situation Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 3 said that the central government is making efforts to normalise the situation in Manipur, which has been witnessing ethnic violence since last year. The Prime Minister was replying to the debate on ‘Motion of Thanks’ on the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha. His remarks on Manipur came a day after his speech in Lok Sabha was marked by sloganeering by opposition members who were urging him to address the Manipur issue. “The government is continuously making efforts to normalise the situation in Manipur. More than 11,000 FIRs have been registered and over 500 people arrested. Incidents of violence are continuously reducing in Manipur”, PM Modi said. Manish Sisodia, K. Kavitha’s judicial custody extended till July 25 A court on July 3 extended till July 25 the judicial custody of AAP leader Manish Sisodia and BRS leader K. Kavitha in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam. Special Judge Kaveri Baweja extended their custody after they were produced before the court through video conference on the expiry of their judicial custody granted earlier. Kavitha is in judicial custody in the two cases lodged by the ED and the CBI in the alleged scam. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 03 July 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Champai Soren resigns; Hemant stakes claim to form government Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader and former Chief Minister [Hemant Soren has met Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan in Ranchi on July 3 and staked his claim]( to form a government in the State. “We’ve done all procedures (to form government),” Soren told media persons outside Raj Bhawan. Soren was elected as leader of the ruling Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc parties in the Assembly and is set to return as the 13th Chief Minister of the State. In an alleged land scam case, Soren was sent to jail in January, after which he resigned from the post. Chief Minister Champai Soren, alliance partner Congress in-charge of the State Ghulam Ahmad Mir, State Congress president Rajesh Thakur and all leaders and legislators of INDIA bloc allies were present in the marathon meeting in Ranchi on Wednesday. The ruling alliance MLAs are said to have reached a consensus over the change of guard and making Soren Chief Minister of the State again. Champai Soren has also tendered his resignation to Radhakrishnan. “Our alliance decided to elect Hemant Soren as leader and I’ve decided to resign on my own“, said Champai Soren after tendering his resignation. “A decision was taken at the meeting that Hemant Soren will be the Chief Minister of the State again,” said Congress MLA from Jamtara Irfan Ansari to local media persons in Ranchi and sped away citing toothache as the reason. Earlier on January 31, Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged land scam. “Yes, we want Mr. Soren to take oath as CM of the State sooner than later but, it all depends on the Governor for the invitation”, a JMM MLA told The Hindu over the phone, preferring anonymity. Soren would take oath as Chief Minister of Jharkhand for the third time after July 2013 and December 2019. It was, however, for the first time since Soren’s release from Jail on June 28, that he had called an all-party meeting of MLAs of alliance partners. Current Chief Minister Champai Soren, who is set to be “upset” over the move, is likely to be given a new responsibility as the chairman of the INDIA bloc coordination committee in the State or, executive president of the JMM. In the total 81-member Jharkhand State Assembly, the JMM-led INDIA bloc strength, after the recently held Lok Sabha poll, has become 45 from 47 (JMM-27, Congress-17 and RJD-1). The BJP’s strength in the State Assembly is 24 as two of its legislators Dhulu Mahto (Baghmara in Dhanbad) and Manish Jaiswal (Hazaribagh) were elected as party MPs. After Soren was sent to jail, his wife Kalpana Soren plunged into politics and became party MLA from Gandey constituency defeating BJP candidate Dilip Kumar Verma in a by-poll by over 26, 000 votes. Gandey Assembly seat in Giridih district of the State had fallen vacant following resignation of JMM MLA Sarfaraj Ahmad. Ahead of the meeting of INDIA bloc allies MLAs on Wednesday, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and Jharkhand in-charge of the party Ghulam Ahmad Mir and State Congress President Rajesh Thakur met Soren for some time. “The alliance partner legislators and leaders elected Hemant Soren for the third term of CM for a unified command ahead of the upcoming State elections in October this year,” a JMM leader said. Hathras stampede: Uttar Pradesh CM Adityanath announces judicial probe, doesn’t rule out conspiracy Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi [Adityanath on July 3 announced a judicial probe into the Hathras stampede]( as he met those injured in the incident at the venue of the religious congregation in Hathras. Adityanath did not rule out the possibility of a conspiracy in the stampede. He also said the “sevadars” (volunteers working for the ‘satsang’ organisers) should have taken the victims to the hospital. People were dying and the ‘sevadars’ fled, he claimed. Asserting the government will ensure that such incidents do not recur, the Chief Minister said a standard operating procedure might be put in place for religious congregations. “A judicial probe by a retired high court judge will be conducted into the incident. A notification about this will be issued today,” he said. “If this is not an accident, then whose conspiracy is this? All of these will be probed. Retired officials of the police and civic administration will be part of the judicial inquiry and action will be taken against those found responsible.” Adityanath said the government had formed a Special Investigation Team led by the additional director general (ADG) of police, Agra, which has given its preliminary report. She (ADG, Agra, Anupam Kulshreshtha) has been asked to get to the bottom of this incident, he said. The Chief Minister said among the 121 killed in the stampede on July 2, six were from other states — four from Haryana and one each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Asked why religious preacher Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba has not been named in the FIR as an accused, Adityanath said, “Prima facie, the case has been filed against those who had applied for permission for the event. Whoever is responsible for this will come under its purview.” The Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday registered an FIR against the organisers of the congregation, accusing them of flouting conditions with 2.5 lakh people gathering for the event in which only 80,000 were permitted. It also alleged the organisers did not cooperate in traffic management and hid evidence after the stampede that occurred as people gathered there stopped to collect soil from where the religious preacher’s vehicle passed. After meeting the injured, Adityanath reached the stampede spot in Sikandrarau where the Divisional Commissioner of Aligarh briefed him about the accident. At a press conference, the Chief Minister said, “When the gentleman’s (Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba) preaching was over, he came down from the stage and his convoy moved forward, a group of women moved towards him to touch him. A crowd followed them and started climbing on top of each other.” Adityanath said, “The ‘sevadars’ kept pushing people leading to the accident. It is sad that the ‘sevadars’, who do not allow the administration to enter such events, tried to hush up the matter. But when the administration started taking the injured to hospital, most of the ‘sevadars’ fled.” NTA working on CUET-UG results, date to be announced soon: UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on July 3 said the [date for declaration of results for the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG will be announced soon](. The results for the crucial test, which is a gateway for admission to undergraduate courses, were scheduled to be announced by June 30. However, there has been no update yet from the National Testing Agency (NTA). The delay in announcement of CUET results is also likely to impact the academic calendar in the universities. “NTA is working on CUET results and will announce a date soon,” the UGC chairman said. The delay in results come amid a raging row over alleged irregularities in the competitive exams, including NEET and NET. The exam conducted in a hybrid mode for the first time was cancelled across Delhi, a night before the exam citing logistical reasons. The exam was conducted later in the national capital. The NTA had earlier announced that the third edition of the CUET-UG will be completed in seven days and there will be no normalisation of scores as all exams will be conducted in a single shift. For 15 subjects, the tests were in pen-paper mode and for the other 48 subjects, the exam was held in computer-based mode. Over 13.4 lakh candidates had this year registered for the common entrance test for admission to undergraduate courses in 261 central, state, deemed and private universities. In the first edition of the exam in 2022, the test was plagued by technical glitches. Also, as a result of tests for a subject being conducted over multiple shifts, the scores had to be normalised during the announcement of results. In the line of fire over alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET and the PhD entrance NET, the Centre removed NTA Director General Subodh Singh last week and notified a high-level panel headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief R. Radhakrishnan to ensure a transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the NTA. While the NEET is under the scanner over several irregularities, including alleged paper leak, the UGC-NET was cancelled as the Education Ministry received inputs that the integrity of the exam was com promised. Both matters are being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).Two other exams — CSIR-UGC NET and NEET-PG — were cancelled as a preemptive step. The Congress on July 3 slammed the NTA over the delay in the results and claimed that the exam is one reason why more and more youngsters are looking to go abroad for undergraduate education. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the “totally discredited” NTA had earlier announced that the results for the CUET would be declared on June 30. Now, it appears that it might be declared on July 10, he said. “It is worth recalling that NTA’s chairman has not been shifted out as part of the clean-up following the NEET and NET fiascos,” Ramesh said in a post on X. “It is also worth recalling that the NTA, which is under the Ministry of Education, has no professional expertise of its own and depends entirely on private vendors — some with dubious credentials — for the actual testing,” he alleged. Ramesh claimed that the CUET is one reason why more and more youngsters are looking to go abroad for undergraduate education. Joe Biden says he ‘nearly fell asleep’ during U.S. presidential debate after world travel U.S. President [Joe Biden acknowledged his performance]( during the June 27 presidential debate wasn’t his best, but blamed it on jet lag after two overseas trips earlier in June. Biden has faced mounting questions about his 2024 reelection bid after last week’s shaky debate performance, with one House of Representatives fellow Democrat on Tuesday publicly calling on him to withdraw from the race. Speaking at a campaign event in McLean, Virginia, on Tuesday evening, Biden admitted the debate against former President Donald Trump, his Republican rival, did not go well. “I didn’t have my best night, but the fact is that you know, I wasn’t very smart,” Biden said, speaking at the campaign fundraiser without the aid of a teleprompter. “I decided to travel around the world a couple times, going through around 100 time zones... before... the debate.” “Didn’t listen to my staff and came back and nearly fell asleep on stage,” he said. “That’s no excuse but it is an explanation.” Biden traveled to France and Italy during two separate trips in the space of two weeks last month, flying overnight from the Group of Seven summit in Bari, Italy, to appear at a fundraiser with former President Barack Obama in Los Angeles on June 15 before returning to Washington the following day. He then spent six days at Camp David preparing for the June 27 debate. White House officials have blamed Biden’s halting performance during the debate on a cold. Biden did not mention being sick during Tuesday’s fundraiser. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Tuesday showed that one in three Democrats think Biden should end his reelection bid following the debate, but no prominent elected Democrat does any better than Biden in a hypothetical matchup against Trump. The two-day poll found that both Trump, 78, and Mr. Biden, 81, maintain the support of 40% of registered voters, suggesting that Biden has not lost ground since the debate. Election Day is November 5. In Brief: Jailed radical preacher Amritpal Singh likely to take oath as MP on July 5 Jailed [radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh]( who recently won the Khadoor Sahib parliamentary seat in Punjab, is likely to take oath as Lok Sabha member on July 5. The chief of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit, who is currently lodged in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail along with nine associates under the National Security Act, has been granted a four-day parole to enable him to take oath, officials in Amritsar said. Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, an Independent MP from Faridkot, said Amritpal Singh is likely to take oath as MP on July 5. PM Modi breaks silence on Manipur, says govt making continuous efforts to normalise situation Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 3 said that the central government is [making efforts to normalise the situation in Manipur]( which has been witnessing ethnic violence since last year. The Prime Minister was replying to the debate on ‘Motion of Thanks’ on the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha. His remarks on Manipur came a day after his speech in Lok Sabha was marked by sloganeering by opposition members who were urging him to address the Manipur issue. “The government is continuously making efforts to normalise the situation in Manipur. More than 11,000 FIRs have been registered and over 500 people arrested. Incidents of violence are continuously reducing in Manipur”, PM Modi said. Manish Sisodia, K. Kavitha’s judicial custody extended till July 25 A court on July 3 extended till July 25 the [judicial custody of AAP leader Manish Sisodia and BRS leader K. Kavitha]( in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam. Special Judge Kaveri Baweja extended their custody after they were produced before the court through video conference on the expiry of their judicial custody granted earlier. Kavitha is in judicial custody in the two cases lodged by the ED and the CBI in the alleged scam. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today’s Top Picks [[Will the T20 World Cup win trigger a phase of Indian domination in world cricket? | In Focus podcast] Will the T20 World Cup win trigger a phase of Indian domination in world cricket? | In Focus podcast]( [[Online food delivery estimated to grow at 18% y-o-y: Report] Online food delivery estimated to grow at 18% y-o-y: Report]( [[TH03 KoshyDeath rates from air pollution spikes vary across cities: Study] TH03 KoshyDeath rates from air pollution spikes vary across cities: Study]( [[New NCERT textbooks delayed, Class 6 students to go to school without books] New NCERT textbooks delayed, Class 6 students to go to school without books]( Copyright© 2024, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [click here]( Manage your newsletter subscription preferences [here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](